Photos: Quinn Holden, SJP ‘25 (Insta: @quinnsvisuals)
By: Zachary Reagan, SJP ‘23 (Twitter: @zreagan8)
PHILADELPHIA – The St. Joseph’s Prep Hawks and the Gonzaga College High School Eagles have fostered a rivalry nearly 100 years in the making. The beginnings of the Cannonball Classic have been entertaining these last two years, and both times the Prep has represented their city well.
This time around, the Hawks headed down to Washington D.C. to visit the home of their Jesuit brethren. Luckily, the Eagles kept it much closer than last year’s 35-3 thrashing. The score this weekend was 31-21, but the Eagles did a good job of sneaking up on the Hawks toward the end when they got complacent. However, before that discussion gets brought up, the game starts at kickoff.
The first drive was a successful one for the Prep. It was a primarily run heavy one marked by some screen play from last year’s breakout receiver Brandon Rehmann. The highlight of this drive was Hawks quarterback Samaj Jones hurdling the Eagles’ safety on a 10-yard designed run to move the chains.
With a couple more powerful runs from Hawks running back Kahseim Phillips, and a quick 1-yard quarterback keeper, the Hawks got on the board, making it a 7-0 game early. The Prep turn on defense was a quick one. After letting up a first down run, they hunkered down to make the Eagles go three and out, which included a monster sack from first-year starter Ivan Bailey-Green.
The next score would come from Gonzaga in the second quarter, which to the Hawks’ defensive credit, was only a field goal. The Prep had to punt in their own end zone, and the Eagles’ special teams took advantage, getting a punt return to only 13-yards from the end zone. After the Gonzaga score, the Prep put together another promising drive, but it sputtered out when they failed a 4th down attempt deep in their offensive territory.
A theme of the game was the Prep defense eliminating the Eagle’s run-first offense quickly, and they did just that on their next defensive stint. Yet another three and out would eventually turn into a crucial Prep scoring drive.
St. Joseph's Prep junior quarterback Samaj Jones - Photo by Quinn Holden
Jones was able to get some bigger passing plays off on this one, getting David Washington the ball in the wide open flat, giving him the chance to turn a five yard dump off into a 25-yard gain, putting them at the 10-yard line. All Jones had to do was jump over the trenches at the 1-yard line to make it a 14-3 ball game with less than 30 seconds left in the first half.
The Prep offense wasn’t done though. In the middle of the third quarter, Jones found Washington on another big passing play, finding him open in the middle of the field. All Washington had to do was shed two tackle attempts at the goal line, and the Hawks extended their lead, 21-3.
#35 St. Joseph's Prep junior kicker Skylar Sholder - Photo by Quinn Holden
After another field goal from the Eagles and a good bounce of the left goal post from Prep kicker Skyler Sholder, the Prep put together one last scoring drive in the middle of the fourth quarter. They lucked out with two big pass interference penalties that got them the bulk of their yardage, including one in the end zone, which if Rehmann had caught it, would have been his craziest grab ever. Thanks to Rehmann being torn down by the Eagles’ corners, Phillips was able to punch in a quick 2-yard touchdown run to finish off the drive.
While the Prep would finish their scoring here, the Gonzaga Eagles found a burst of momentum, causing the Hawk's fans to squirm in their seats.
Right after Phillip’s score, the Eagles’ Brendan Lee brought a kick return right back to the Hawk’s own end zone. The score was now 31-13 with about eight minutes left to play. The Prep was able to recover the onside kick, but less than 10 plays later, Washington fumbled after picking up a screen pass from the Prep’s collapsed pocket.
Then, after some driving, Eagles running back Jalen McDonald, who’d been wreaking havoc on the Prep defense all game, picked up a 40-yard touchdown off of a curl route in the middle of the field. A gusty two-point conversion attempt is called, and Burke Carrol put the Prep defensive back on a poster with a spectacular catch on a quick fade. The score was then 31-21, but fortunately for the Hawks, that’s where the score would stay.
While the win was certainly deserved for the Hawks, there were still improvements to be made. Towards the end of the game especially, the defense looked uninspired and unmotivated. If given a little more time, the Eagles could’ve really snuck back into the game and perhaps could’ve even won. Some of the deep passing plays weren’t really hitting like they have in some of the past games. We’ve seen flashes from big plays before, and odds are it won’t be too long before we start seeing them in full force.
St. Joseph's Prep vs. Gonzaga - Gallery by Quinn Holden, SJP '25
One plus worth mentioning is how often the Hawks won in the trenches this week. The offensive line, led by seniors Julian Cervantes and George Reinhard were able to create a ton of holes for all of the Prep’s rushers, which effectively ended up opening the passing game to them as well. As a run-first team, the Hawks heavily rely on their offensive line to create opportunities that will propel the team forward through every game.
On the other side of the ball, the defensive line had a very solid game as well. This unit is led by senior Matthew DuMond, and his leadership has been invaluable to this set of guys who are lacking in experience. The quarterback pressure was on this game, especially early, which forced the Eagles to try to get it done on the ground. That was their next mistake, as guys in the second level like Cole Nilles and Nick McGlynn contributed to a stout run defense.
All in all, this St. Joe’s Prep team has shown a lot of growth this season. Even though one can never truly know how some of these physical PCL rivalry games will go, the Prep is looking to take a stance and show that they are still the team to beat in the PCL Red.
The Hawks next game is on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Archbishop Wood. The game will be played at Cardinal O'Hara High School.